The death of U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has sparked an urgent question among Ukraine’s supporters in Washington and Kyiv: without a close Trump ally loudly championing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government, will the recent shift in the administration’s stance toward Ukraine hold?
Two major issues hang in the balance — proposed legislation to impose sanctions on Russia, which Graham had championed for over a year, and continued military support for Ukraine. On both fronts, things had been trending in Kyiv’s favor as Ukraine faces stepped-up Russian attacks and mounting pressure to bring the nearly four-and-a-half-year conflict to an end.
Just days before his death, Graham and fellow senators announced they had reached an agreement with the White House to move forward on the “Sanctioning Russia Act” — a bill that had been stalled despite having 85 of the Senate’s 100 members as co-sponsors, largely due to resistance from Trump.
Graham, who was 71 years old, died late Saturday — just one day after completing his tenth trip to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. That final visit was when he announced the White House agreement to advance the sanctions legislation.
The South Carolina senator had spent years lobbying for military assistance for Ukraine and served as an important connection between Kyiv and the Trump administration, frequently working alongside Democratic colleagues. He also helped broker a critical minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine last year, persuading Trump to support a plan giving the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian mineral projects in exchange for American investment.
Matthew Murray, a former Commerce Department official who now teaches at Georgetown and Columbia universities, said Graham had been effective at shifting Trump’s position. “He was successful in leading President Trump to pivot in his position toward Ukraine,” Murray said, adding, “The senator’s good work here will be self-sustaining and self-executing.”
Zelenskiy expressed grief over Graham’s passing, saying he was “deeply saddened.” “We remained in constant dialogue, and I will miss our conversations. We met twice in just the past week,” the Ukrainian president said in a statement.
Analysts offered a more cautious assessment of Graham’s overall record on Ukraine, noting that his efforts were complicated by Trump’s occasionally strained relationship with Zelenskiy, the administration’s “America First” foreign policy priorities, and the costly war with Iran that has been draining U.S. resources while creating pressure to ease restrictions on Russian oil to help moderate energy prices.
Scott Anderson of the Brookings Institution acknowledged the significance of the loss. “It’s a big loss for Ukraine. I don’t think anyone should have any illusions about it,” he said, noting that Graham represented an influential behind-the-scenes voice for a more internationally engaged approach within the Republican Party.
Still, even Graham had been unable to get Trump to allow a Senate vote on the sanctions bill. The last major Ukraine aid package to pass both chambers of Congress was a $61 billion measure approved in April 2024, and many Republicans have grown less supportive of Kyiv since Trump began his second term in January 2025.
Moving the sanctions bill forward or securing additional security assistance could now be harder without someone in Graham’s position — a former Trump critic who had become a trusted ally and frequent golf companion — applying personal pressure on the president.
Several other lawmakers who have supported Ukraine are also departing Congress in January, including former Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
“Ukraine has lost an advocate that had the president’s ear,” said Charles Lichfield, deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s GeoEconomics Center.
Trump’s relationship with Zelenskiy has been rocky at times. Early last year, Trump publicly berated the Ukrainian leader in the Oval Office, accusing him of being insufficiently grateful for American military support. More recently, however, Trump’s tone has softened.
After a NATO summit this month, Zelenskiy said Ukraine and the U.S. had reached a political agreement on licenses allowing Ukraine to produce Patriot interceptors, and that the two countries were discussing joint drone production. Trump is also expected to allow a vote on the Russia sanctions bill, which would target nations that purchase Russian oil, gas, and uranium.
Supporters of the bill in both the Senate and House said they intend to push for its passage as a tribute to Graham, with some calling for the legislation to be renamed in his honor.
“There can be no more fitting tribute to Lindsey,” said Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee and a co-sponsor of the bill.
The Senate has not yet announced a date for a vote, but Republican majority leader John Thune of South Dakota said on CNN that passing the bill would be an “incredible legacy” for Graham.
